Jeannette Devereaux
Jeanette Devereaux (2626-2669) is a native of Belgium, she was a starfighter pilot in the Terran Confederation Space Force, flying under the callsign of Angel. She took part to the Vega Sector and Enigma Sector campaigns and worked also in the Special Operations division during the period of the Kilrathi War. Personal biography Jeanette Devereaux was born in 2626 in Brussels on Earth. Her parents, Pierre Christian Deveraux and Marie Sousex Devereaux were killed during the Pilgrim Wars and she grew up in an orphanage, praying for her dead parents whom she believed to be angels, and that was the origin of her callsign. Pilgrim Uprising Having joined the crew of the , Deveraux was considered one of the best pilots in the ship. As a Lieutenant Commander, she became a Squadron Commander of the 88th Fighter Wing; the sick time was high, pilots' hit ratios were low, and mortality was one of the highest in the fleet. Angel, with ongoing sim contests and drills, teaching her pilots the values of "book flying" and teamwork, and taking personal pride in the maintenance of their own fighters, she managed to reverse the situation within a year. In mid-2653 efficiency ratings in the Repair Pit were doubled. Angel had come quite close with Charles Chen and was greatly affected by his death in early 2654. In order to cope with the high mortality rate, she encouraged the custom of "disremembering" battle fatalities among the pilots; about which Jason Sansky and Paul Gerald expressed their scepticism as unhealthy and disrespectful. Angel met Christopher Blair while on the flight deck, as he boarded Bossman's former CF-117b Rapier, whom he came to replace. She scoldfully challenged his jovialty provoking him. Blair initially thought the woman was a technician, before realising she was his Squadron Commander and made him felt awkward. Blair found a hard time to understand the custom of "disremembering" dead pilots; Angel entered the rec room preventing a fight between Blair and Hunter and then scolded Blair explaining to him that pilots on the Claw must cope with the unpredictability of their expendable lives. Angel was alerted seeing how newcomer Todd Marshall and Rosalind Forbes, her best pilot, challenged each other. She saw as they made a show-off with landing their ships after a 540 degrees roll. Their celebrations were cut by a grim looking Deveraux. This brought problems with the Flight Boss and Deveraux had to talk with him to not bring them up on charges. Forbes later visited Deveraux in her quarters bringing her a bottle of whiskey to thank her, and admitted that she wanted to impress Maniac. Deveraux was upset because she couldn't afford losing her best pilot. When James Taggart guided the Claw through a pulsar jump point to the Dakota system, Angel was in the bridge and was lightly wounded during the shock. When they detected an electromagnetic signature among the D-5 asteroid field, she was ordered by Jason Sansky to lead a connoiter with excplicit instructions to not reveal their presence. She led Blair to investigate the debris of the Pegasus Station, but their presence was detected by a Kilrathi ConCom. They attempted to destroy it, but it was shielded and retreated when they saw 2 destroyers approaching. On the Claw, Blair was considered responsible by Gerald, even as a traitor. When more Kilrathi presence was discovered, Taggart disagreed with Sansky to attack the ConCom, warning that it would only make the Claw vulnerable to an attack. Sansky insisted that doing so will slow the Kilrathi and ordered Jeanette Deveraux to lead a strike force, accompanied by Taggart. Blair stormed in her quarters, showing to her his Pilgrim Cross "for luck", angered that she seemed to believe Gerald's accusations: he has no connection to the Pilgrims other than his mother's heritage, whom he never met, as she died in the Pilgrim War. Seeing this common point between them, Deveraux also revealed her history, about her parents and how she acquired her callsign. But for her they never existed, like Bossman. She reveals that she and Bossman got too close before he was killed. She returns his Cross saying that he saved her life during their mission. Blair was assigned to the Baker Wing with Hunter, but as he denied to fly with a Pilgrim as his wingman, Blair was assigned under Angel. Deveraux ordered her wing to concentrate against a target but Taggart warned her it was a supply ship left by the Kilrathi task force that would soon attack the Claw. He had to reveal his true identity and position to convice her to listen to his advice. Convinced that Kilrathi capital ships were moving against the Claw, Angel changed her plans and returned to support the Claw. Blair with Maniac covered the CF-131 Broadswords against a battleship which Taggart managed to destroy. However on the way back Todd Marshall and Rosalind Forbes disobayed her orders to return and went to hunt more bogies. In the process Sassy lost control of her Rapier and crashed outside the corridor. Deveraux received no response. Convinced that Forbes was killed she ordered the wreckage removed from the corridor. Bittered, Angel landed, and considered executing Maniac as responsible and threatened to kill him if he ever endager another pilot Blair then convinced Angel to forgive Maniac, as his talents were useless with Forbes' death in his conscience. When the ConCom approached the Claw's hideout, Taggart organized a boarding mission. Deveraux had to visit Maniac and order him to participate, and do it for Forbes. Pilots and Confederation Marines boarded the Diligent and broke into the ConCom to steal fuel cells. Maniac flew one of the Rapiers who covered the Diligent and disposed the Dralthi escort of the ConCom. During the mission, the marines claimed fuel cells and also discovered the Pegasus NAVCOM realising that the Kilrathi had the coordinates to Charybdis and a way to Sol Sector. This information would give the advantage to the battle group as they would know where exactly to anticipate the Kilrathi. However the drones could not be programmed, so Blair was asked by Taggart to pilot a fighter and jump the Charybdis. Angel flew as his wingman, but on their way, she detected a cloaked skipper missile running towards the Claw. Angel abandoned the mission to hunt it out. Angel managed to destroy it moments before hitting the Carrier, but the debris damaged her fighter severely. Blair offered to help her and tractor her pod back to the Claw, but no more time was left so she ordered Blair to continue with his mission. Reluctantly, Blair complied and jumped the quasar, making it to the Sol sector. Taggart boarded the Dilligent to look for her, a difficult task as she had turned off the homing signal. He found her by pure change and brought her to the hangar of the Claw. Blair also arrived to the hangar. As soon as she recovered shed shared a kiss with Blair, before being taken by the medics. Vega Campaign In April 2654 Angel received a Bronze Star. In 2654, already promoted to Captain, Angel flew off the Confederation strike carrier during the Vega Campaign. During this period Angel was assigned to the "Killer Bees" Squadron, equipped with Hornet Light Fighters and flew in the Cheng-Du system. With her wingman they attempted to rescue Valkyrie while a was patroling the system. Later they escorted an on its way to the Ymir system while protecting her against Dakhath nar Sihkag. They also joined Hunter while protecting the Claw against a wave of Grathas. During the campaign she also flew in the Gimle system with Spirit in a Raptor of the Star Slayer Squadron. Their first mission was assisting an to join the Claw and then they had the privilege to fly in a routine patrol mission testing the new Rapier Medium Fighters . They flew one more mission with Raptors, where they were pursued by Dakhath nar Sihkag. Operation: Thor's Hammer In 2655, after the Confederation successfully repelled the Kilrathi from the Vega sector, the Tiger's Claw and her crew were sent in to investigate what happened to Goddard. While pushing their way into the Border Zone system, she flew Epsilon Wing with LaFong in Raptors and they destroyed a . Later they escorted the group Sleipnir transporting Reaver elite marines to safety. Operation: Crusade Secret Missions 2= In the Firekka system Bossman and Angel were ambushed by several wings of Drakhai and Bossman was killed. She was much affected and felt the need to write a letter to his wife explaining what happened. When the Claw returned to Firekka, Angel and Sorcerer were sent to escort one of the marine transports, the , but it never showed up in the jump point (Debriefing) as it had been captured by the Kilrathi. Colonel Zaritsky asked her to take command of the 's fighter squadron and be promoted to Major. After spending some time alone she decided to be transferred to the Austin at the next rendezvous. In two of her last missions on the Claw, Prankster and Angel flew refit Dralthi Mk. IIs as Omicron Wing in order to rescue a Confederation Marines that was leaving Firekka. On their way back to the Claw, they saved their carrier from a fighter attack. Ordered to inflict as much damage as possible on their way out, Prankster and Angel flew F-44 Rapier IIs as Omega Wing. They engaged several waves of fighters and came by a and . On their return, they fended off an attack against the Claw. |-| Freedom Flight= Captain Deveraux attended Puma's funeral, after which, seeing how Spirit felt devastated and responsible for his death, she offered to walk her to the Barracks. Shortly after he was calle to the Flight Deck, where Peter Halcyon announced the defection of the . Angel expressed the concern that a trap may lie behind this. By the next week, more Kilrathi arrived in the system. She flew with Bossman as Gamma Wing patrolling the jump point area. During the mission, suddenly a Kilrathi strike force surrounded them, a , corvettes, and 2 tankers. Bossman ordered her to return to the Claw, and he kept the ships busy long enough for her to get out of range; transmitting as much information to her as he could, and his last words were to tell his wife that he loves her. Angel wanted to go back, but she had to survive and warn the Claw. In the meantime, While jockeying at the , Hunter recommended her to the Captain of the ship and James Reilly to replace Nikolai Petrenkov as a squadron leader. The Captain agreed and called Colonel Halcyon about it, who expressed his satisfaction for her promotion, but sadness to see her leave. Angel returned to the Claw and went to Halcyon's office to report Bossman's death; Halcyon didn't want her to fly any more missions that day. Then she withdrew to the Rec Room crying alone over a glass of pink soda. Hunter came to her eager to relate her the good news, but then she learnt the bad ones first. She burst into mourning and Hunter gave his hands so that she could hold on to something; however he told her the news about her promotion. Despite her feeling guilty for not being able to help Bossman, Hunter reminded all her qualities that would make her ideal. Even 10 years later, she was still much affected by Bossman's death. Vengeance of the Kilrathi They destroyed the Kilrathi HQ in the Enigma Sector at K'tithrak Mang. Devereaux was one of the few pilots to survive the destruction of the Claw when the ship was ambushed by a squadron of the then-unknown Kilrathi Strakha Stealth Fighters and lost with (almost) all hands. , Introduction By 2665, Devereaux had risen through the ranks up to Colonel and was serving as Wing Commander onboard Geoffrey Tolwyn's flagship, the . There she served with Spirit, Jazz and Doomsday. The ship was in the Enigma Sector with , attempting to subdue enemy presence when Sarthas from a attacked them. However dishonored Capt. Blair (and LaFong) assisted the Concordia with Elizabeth Norwood. Angel was one of his staunchest supporters. She grounded Stingray for refusing to fly with him and assigned Kilroy as leader of the Gold Wing. Before returning to the Caernarvon Station, Norwood suggested to her to consider assigning Blair (and LaFong) to the Concordia and promised to do so. After a sabotage, and Norwood's death, Blair (and LaFong) was stranded there and assigned to the Concordia by a grudging Geoffrey Tolwyn. When LaFong reported once more the appearance of phantom fighters, his flight recorder was busted, and Angel showed skepticism to his claims. She refused to forward this to Tolwyn, and reported the appearance of Drakhris instead. Because of the constant bickering with others, Angel assigned Jazz and Stingray to escort one of the daily garbage shuttle to the asteroids. While playing a game of cards with Doomsday and Spirit, she explained to Maverick that despite his performance, Tolwyn insisted to not allow him fly combat missions. In Heaven's Gate system she assigned Maverick to fly with Spirit. This caused some bitter comments by Stingray, which were answered by Hobbes, and Angel ordered both of them in her office. The subsequent death of Spirit took a heavy toll on Blair, LaFong, and Angel. Angel realised that the war is nothing but a vicious circle in which everyone she loves is killed. Those weak moments brought Maverick and Angel closer together and the next couple of weeks they developed a romantic relationship (and LaFong at least developed a strong friendship with Angel, but hoped it was loveWC1&2G, pg). This was not without problems however, as there was some gossiping and grumbling about her being used, and Angel was concerned not to give choice missions. Although she first appointed him to a raid against a Kilrathi listening post, she put Buckaroo in his place, and assigned LaFong routine patrol. She usually seemed to be distracted. Angel flew on his wing to demonstrate her confidence in him. Devereaux was still aboard and in the Wing Commander role when Blair personally destroyed the K'tithrak Mang on a daring solo mission (although he may have secretly gotten help from Carl T. LaFongStar*Soldier, 26WC1&2 guide, pg). Following the Enigma Sector campaign, details on Devereaux's career become a little hazy. However, it is known that by 2668 she had transferred to the Special Operations division ran by another Claw veteran, Gen. James "Paladin" Taggart, leaving control of the Concordia flight group to Blair. In 2669, after the Battle of Earth, Angel embarked on a Special Operations mission, aimed to secretly penetrate into Kilrathi territory. Flying a captured Kilrathi transport ship, Devereaux and her crew reached Kilrah, the enemy home planet, and conducted a geological survey, confirming that the planet was, from a seismic standpoint, ready to fall apart at the seams. They then set up three secret asteroid bases within the Kilrathi star system for use in a future Temblor Bomb strike. Unfortunately, after setting up all the depots, Devereaux and her crew were captured by the Kilrathi and imprisoned. During a Kilrathi council held by the Emperor himself, the Special Operatives were bodily disintegrated. Angel, the only exception, was personally disemboweled by Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka, a sort of backhanded honor bestowed on powerful enemies. A holographic recording of the event was later used against Col. Blair, who eventually led the strike to deliver the Temblor Bomb and kill Thrakhath, thus following through on his "lair-mate's" work. Character She is widely known for her marksmanship. She was also very confident about the rules of combat flying that had evolved throughout the centuries and did not tolerate freshmen who defied these rules and went by instinct. Angel was a straightforward, skilled, "by the book" kind of pilot, with a perfect record for all her years in the Navy. Furthermore, she has a talent for working with people, as she cares about those around her. She is usually described as a cool, rational person who regarded her role as a fighter pilot as an honor and lived to fight the good fight. She would be seen in the Rec Room holding a notepad studying her calculations and statistics. Angel took particular interest in the statistical aspects of fighter combat, and could often be heard conversing on such while off-duty. Many pilots found it practical to know that the Kilrathi Salthi tended to break to one side more frequently than the other (due to the arrangement of its ducts), but this information and more like it (a great deal more) gave Angel a reputation as a bit of an egghead. She always thought of herself as different from the other pilots, and that if she care only about herself, perfecting her skills, could never be hurt, feel pain or fear. This changed after Bossman's death. Personnel file Paul Gerald considered her one of the best pilots and commanders in the ship, with a crisp, clean flying style and a thorough understanding of battle situations. As a commander, Angel was uncommon in using cold demeanor and lack of compassion, which made peers and subordinates to complain about it. Her lack of sympathy or camaraderie to inspire her pilots, was countered by her positive reinforcement for improvement. Her methods proved to be effective, drilling her pilots until their skills begin to develop. Behind the scenes If Angel is killed in WCI, these words are heard: In Operation: Thor's Hammer this becomes: Notes * In the Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger Full Motion Video cutscenes, Jeanette Devereaux was played by Yolanda Jilot. In the 1999 , Saffron Burrows was cast for her role. Category:Terran Confederation pilots Category:Terrans Category:Tiger's Claw survivor Category:Concordia (CVN-56) personnel Category:Austin personnel Category:Characters (SWC) Category:Characters (SM1.5) Category:Characters (WC1) Category:Characters (SM1) Category:Characters (SM2) Category:Characters (WC3) Category:Characters (Freedom Flight) Category:Characters (WCA) Category:Characters (WCM) Category:Characters (WCMN) Category:Characters (Pilgrim Stars) Category:Characters (Pilgrim Truth)